Google Acknowledges Pixel 8 Pro Screen Bumps, Sort Of

This past week, some Pixel 8 Pro users complained that they can see small circular bumps in the device’s display. Google has responded, but it stopped short of admitting there’s a problem with the phone.

“Pixel 8 phones have a new display,” a Google statement reads. “When the screen is turned off, not in use, and in specific lighting conditions, some users may see impressions from components in the device that look like small bumps. There is no functional impact to Pixel 8 performance or durability.”

The Pixel 8 Pro marks the first time that Google has given a display in one of its devices a name—the ” Super Actua” display—like Apple does. And while that name refers to the OLED panel’s sunlight-defeating peak brightness of up to 2400 nits, it’s also “super thin,” in the words of Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything. And it’s impossible not to wonder if that thinness has contributed to the problem.

But whatever the cause, Google’s non-denial is a little troubling: These bumps, or impressions, or whatever one chooses to call them, are literally caused by springs and other components in the phone pressing into the back of the display. And because users can see this, it means that they are warping that display, most likely permanently. So it’s unclear how Google can know that this issue won’t cause problems down the road. The display is, after all, new.

The Pixel 8 Pro is protected by a one-year warranty, and Google offers a Preferred Care program with improved repair and replacement benefits if you can afford the cost. But given the reliability issues we’ve seen in the past with various Pixel models, it’s natural to be worried about this latest incident. Perhaps Google will be forced to institute an extended repair program as it did for the Pixel 4 XL and the Pixel 5a.